Looking for Luna
by BinominalNomenclature
Summary: Set a year after The Battle of Hogwarts, seventeen year old Luna Lovegood is kidnapped and held captive by a masked man. George Weasley makes it his goal to find Luna and save her. But will he make it in time? And who is this mysterious masked man? Will dark magic roam again? Rated T for irregular torture scenes. DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter.
1. Prologue

_**A/N:**_ Okay, just wanted to say...

This is my first fanfic ever posted, and I'm kinda nervous about it. I hope that there aren't too many errors, if there are, I'm sorry! I would LOVE reviews. This is just the prologue, I hope you enjoy! *Updates should be regular, depending on whether the internet is in a good mood or not.

-BinominalNomenclature :)

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**~Prologue~**

She stood on the beach, unfazed by the brewing storm. Her long, white-blonde hair was flowing behind her, along with her diaphanous dress of dark purple. As a cresting wave broke and gently rushed towards her, she curled her toes into the white sand. The water retreated back into the ocean, only to be caught in another, swirling wave. The girl tilted her head slightly, realising that waves never stopped. They were a continuous movement rather than something that comes once and disappears, contrary to what most people thought. A slightly bigger wave came up and sloshed around her feet, moistening her pale skin with salty water. The girl looked down at her feet and watched the water swirl away again. She had come to like the hypnotising oscillation of a wave.

_**B A N G!**_

The girl jumped at the loud crack of thunder. Looking up, she saw grey clouds transforming into shapes at a disconcerting pace. A drop of rain fell through the sky in a matter of seconds. It began, way up in the clouds and fell all the way onto the girl's forehead. As she looked onto the sea, she saw tiny ripples forming as a result of the rain, and decided to head back. Her feet made a suction sound as she pulled them out of the wet sand and she giggled quietly to herself. She picked up her leather shoulder bag, the weight causing it's strap to dig into her shoulder a little. She adjusted her bag and then jumped onto the rocks, not bothering to put shoes on as usual. The flowing, purple dress she was wearing caught on a rock and she tugged it free, creating a little rip in it. She made note to sow it up at home. Just then, another cold drop fell onto her head. Then another, and another. She picked up her dress and jogged across the rocks, the beach getting less and less appealing with each raindrop. Soon, the teenager was at the end of the rocks, and she leapt off them, onto the bitumen, to follow the road. The bitumen was very soft on her feet compared to the rocks, and she ran a little faster now, although she had no chance of beating the rain home.

As she ran round the corner of an alleyway, two hands wrapped around her mouth. She squealed in shock and was about to call for help when her captor jammed two fingers down her throat. She gurgled and struggled to get them out. She bit the person's fingers and they growled, "Swine!" throwing her to the ground. A flash of light occurred and the last thing the girl saw before involuntarily freezing in place was a wand.

Dark magic had returned, and Luna was the first to feel its wrath.


	2. Gone

DISCLAIMER: I still do not own anything in the world of Harry Potter, except a wand. All credit goes to J.K. and Warner Bros.

* * *

It was the nineteenth of September, and everyone gathered at the Weasley's house to celebrate Hermione Granger's eighteenth birthday. As she walked through the door, greeting George with a hug, Ron glimpsed at her. In that two to three second glance he saw how she had grown her hair out, and he laughed at the memory of when she was but a young child, wearing a frizzy afro of knotted, brown hair. His eyes moved down to her chest, _those weren't there before_, he smirked to himself. Ron's eyes travelled down her skinny, _but God, curvy_, hips, and down to her legs. He could almost feel the soft, moistness of her skin with his eyes. When she walked over Ron jumped a little. He awkwardly smiled at her her and said, "Happy Birthday!" not meeting her soft, sparkling eyes. When everyone turned away to sit down for lunch, Hermione's lips brushed up against Ron's ear. "You wouldn't be feeling me up with your eyes, by any chance?" She said, coyly. Ron smiled, resisting the urge to take her into his arms and kiss her. "Who, me? Not a chance," Hermione moved with an unintentional sensuous slink to the table, Ron grinning as he followed.

Molly Weasley looked on everyone sitting at the table. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione (of course), Arthur, George... who's missing? She thought.

"Hey, where's Neville?" Ginny asked.

"Hagrid isn't here either," Harry observed.

"He couldn't make it, I think he was very busy with something at Hogwarts, but he left a gift," Arthur Weasley said.

"Has anyone seen Luna?" George asked.

Everyone was quiet.

"Okay, so we're missing Neville, Luna..." Hermione began.

"Luna's probably looking for some Nargles or Wrackspurts or something." Ron scoffed.

"Hey—"

"That's enough," Molly said, tossing a salad.

"Hey, where's Bill and Fleur?" Ginny asked, looking around.

"They were going to come but there was an family emergency, so they left for France."

"Lucky him." Harry joked.

"Sorry, Hermione dear," Molly shrugged. "Not the best turn out. But let's just wait and see if

Neville and Luna turn up,"

"Oh, this is more than I expected!" Hermione said, disregarding Molly's apology. "You don't need to apologise. Besides, I'm sure Neville and Luna will turn up,"

As if on cue, Neville burst through the door. Everyone greeted him with smiles and laughter but it was George who realised that he had something other than the party on his mind.

"Neville? What's wrong?" George asked.

"It's Luna," Neville gasped. "She's gone."

* * *

That night, George Weasley rolled over for what seemed like the thousandth time. He could hear Ginny and Hermione chattering away next door, still a little drunk. He groaned and rolled over, his blanket knocking something off his bedside table as he did. He sat up and grabbed his wand. "Lumos," He whispered, groggily. A bright light emerged at the tip of his wand, illuminating the room. George bent over the side of the bed and picked up a piece of paper. He squinted at it, his bleary eyes not focusing. Propping up a pillow, he leant back and opened the neatly folded piece of paper. His heart thumped and seemed to collapse in his chest, when he realised what it was. It was a letter from Luna. She wrote it to him last year, about a week after Fred... George began reading the letter.

_Dearest George,_

_I know that you and I don't see that much of each other, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry_

_Fred died. I know that you and him were very close, and I know it must be hard for you to_

_cope with such a loss. I know that when my mother died I locked myself in my room for_

_days, not bothering to come out for anything. I didn't even eat!_

_Anyway, Fred wasn't meant to go. Neither was Professor Lupin, Tonks, Mad eye and all_

_those others. Not even Professor Snape, really. And Crabbe still had a life to live, even_

_though he wasn't very nice._

George laughed to himself. Her demure manner never ceased to amuse him. Most people would just say Crabbe was a git, but not Luna.

_I hope that I didn't provoke your emotions in this letter, as that was not its purpose. I just_

_wanted to let you know that everything will be okay. And if you ever need anyone to talk to,_

_I'm here._

George put the letter down. Luna was no longer here. Where was she? He needed to know. He needed to find her. He brushed a tear away, unsure why it was there. Probably because of Fred, he thought. Getting out of bed, George felt something brush against his foot. He picked it up and relighted his wand. It looked like some sort of a charm. He picked up the letter again and looked at the bottom of the page.

_And by the way, I made you a charm to ward away Blibbering Humdingers. They're not_

_very good if they make a nest in your ear. Although, I suppose you only have half the_

_chance they will than everybody else does!_

George smiled a little at the letter, touching where his ear used to be. They couldn't repair it but they patched up the hole, so now he just looked like a one eared idiot, as opposed to a normal idiot. He took the charm in his hand and balled up his fists. He felt like he owed it to her to go find her. He wasn't sure why but before he could stop to reconsider what he was doing, he began to pack. It was like something inside him had clicked, and it forced him to find Luna. When he was done packing, he took the bag and changed into jeans and a shirt, wearing a warm jacket over the top. Quietly opening the door, he looked back onto his room. His eyes fell to the bed, where Luna's letter was sitting. He waved his wand and the letter flew into his hand. Putting it on the inside pocket of his jacket, he whispered "Knox," and George Weasley's room was swallowed by darkness.

He grabbed The Daily Prophet Neville had brought in. There was a two page spread on Luna's mysterious disappearance. Since The Battle of Hogwarts, nothing bad had really been going on and since this was the first thing in a while, the media were all over it. George read the article for the seventh time that night.

_...when seventeen year old, Luna Lovegood went missing. As the daughter of Xenophilous Lovegood, editor of The Quibbler and extremely..._ Blah, blah, blah. George skipped ahead. _...the kidnapping took place two days ago, and it was found to be a kidnapping because of blood._

George stopped. He felt sick and stopped reading. Rolling up the newspaper, he put it in his bag and left out the door.

Outside, it was a surprisingly mild night and the moon provided a strong glow. George swallowed down any fear he had and marched onwards, into the night. He'd only managed four or five steps when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "George, where the bloody hell do you think your going?" George turned around to see his youngest brother standing in track pants and a sweatshirt. George sighed, everything was going so well. "Just for a walk," He said, expertly lying. "Yeah," Ron said, not letting go of his shoulder. George stared at him fiercely when he suddenly watched Ron break out into bursts of laughter. "Um..." George raised an eyebrow at Ron. "In the middle of the night... go for a walk?" Ron giggled. George pushed Ron's hand off his shoulder, that's when he smelled the alcohol on Ron's breath. "Bloody 'ell, Ron. How much have you had to drink?" George asked, annoyed. "A glass. Two glasses. Eight," Ron shrugged. "Who knows?" George shook his head, disapprovingly. He unzipped his bag as Ron laughed at nothing and took out a tablet-like object. "Here, take one of these." George said, slinging the bag back over his shoulder. Ron took one without thinking and popped it in his mouth. George calmly turned around and walked off, smiling. About ten seconds later he heard the Puking Pastille doing its work. "Nice one, George." He sang to himself, grabbing the tent out of the garage and walking off. Tonight, he was leaving. Leaving to find Luna.

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_**A/N:**_ Sorry for the brevity of this chapter... They kind of vary in length, the first few are a little short. Hopefully quality makes up for quantity, or rather the lack of. Personally, as long as the length of the chapter makes logical sense, meaning it ends where it should end, the length doesn't matter. If you put all the ideas for that chapter in there, and it turns out to only be, say, 800 words, then it shouldn't really matter. Hope you agree with me! Please review, it makes my day!


	3. Hell

DISCLAIMER: Same as always, my intense interest in Harry Potter is the only thing I'm allowed to rightfully claim. All credit goes to the wonderful J.K. and Warner Bros.

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Luna awoke and found herself on a cold, concrete floor. She sat, bolt upright and wondered where she was. The first thing she felt was an intense pain, throbbing at the side of her head. She inhaled sharply and touched the side of her head. She felt dried blood, and that odd sensation of when pressure is applied to a bruise. Luna tried standing and she fell down again. She groaned and tried again. This time she stood up and found a wall to lean against. Her body felt limp and her legs like jelly. Her head throbbed and she put a hand to her temple. She opened her silvery eyes and saw that she was surrounded by darkness. _Where am I?_ She pondered. Luna, being Luna, was more curious than panicked. Once she felt like she could walk, she walked around, her arms outstretched in front of her.

* * *

It's a very odd feeling, walking around in complete and utter darkness. We've all walked in the dark before, but in the darkness Luna was in is a very different story. You walk around, blind as three mice and stumble over things that aren't really there. You look up, and there is never ending darkness, like a night sky with no stars. You look down and there is yet another abyss of oblivion. You get dizzy, you fall. Instead of falling down a rabbit hole, you fall to a hard, cold floor. You get back up and blink. However, you don't know whether you are still blinking or if you're eyes are open. You go to sleep and wake up, where your nightmares are indistinguishable from reality. It is like a hell, not flaming and burning with demons sacrificing you, it is a hell where there is absolutely nothing. Your senses are mixed up and you can no longer hear, see, taste, smell or feel anything. And, after being trapped in this hell for an unknown amount of time, it becomes normal. Just as it seems to gain normality, you are released, out of darkness and into the life you once lived in. What you used to think was normal is now your new hell.

* * *

Luna slumped against the wall and fell asleep. In her sleep, she dreamed of pulling out her wand, and suddenly the once dark room was alight. She saw a door and walked towards it, as soon as she put her hand on the brass doorknob, she jumped back in pain. It was hot. Red hot. She tried again and again but it kept burning her hand. She turned around and standing right behind her was a masked man. She screamed, which was a thing Luna did not often do, but this man struck fear into her. Every drop of blood in her veins turned ice cold. The man reached out for her and she ran, having no where to go. She turned around and just as the masked man was about to grab her, another man came along. The man pulled out a wand and waved it at the masked man, who consequently went up in flames. Luna stared at the man, who was dressed in plain jeans and a checkered orange shirt. All he did was walk off, fading into the distance...

Luna's eyes shot open. She had fallen to the ground in her sleep and her neck ached. She rubbed her neck, sitting up. She suddenly remembered the strange dream, and thought about it. She knew the man in the orange shirt, but she couldn't picture his face. She knew he must have had a face but... she couldn't seem to recall it. Just as she was about to stand up, the lights flickered on. "Ugh," She exclaimed, shielding her eyes from the brightness. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw a man standing in a doorway. "Who are you?" Luna asked, her voice croaky. Partly because she was scared, and partly because she hadn't spoken in a while. "You don't need to know," Said a voice. A male's voice. A familiar voice. Luna recognised the voice, but she couldn't remember where she'd heard it. All of a sudden, the man stepped out from the doorway. Luna clasped a hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. It was the man from her dreams, the masked man.

He wore a long black robe, that flowed with his every movement. Luna realised the mask he was wearing was a deaths eater's mask. It couldn't be Voldermort, he was dead. She saw him die herself. Perhaps a follower of his that still survived and carried on worshiping him? "Get up," He said, gruffly. Luna just stared at him, still slumped against the wall. "I said UP," He yelled, forcefully. Luna shakily stood up, looking down at herself. She realised that her dress had been torn, and it now reached just above the knee. She self consciously tried to pull the dress down, she disliked showing a lot of skin. She looked at her arms and saw that they were smudged with dirt. "Luna. Luna Lovegood." Said the man, his mouth contorting into a twisted smile. Luna looked at him. "I believe that's an Umgubular Slashkilter flying around your head, Sir." Luna said, matter-of-factly. "SHUT UP!" He screamed, swiping his wand through the air. The spell felt like a hard strike across Luna's face and she crashed to the ground. "Mhh..." She groaned, rubbing her face. She found a smear of blood across her hand. Luna suddenly felt like she was in the Malfoy Manor again, trapped. But this time, she was alone. When she looked around the place, she realised that she recognised it. Luna was certain that she was once more in the concrete basement of the Malfoy Manor. "Why am I here?" Luna asked, standing up to face the man again. As soon as she turned around, he pulled out his wand again. This time, he yelled, "Cruicio!" and Luna fell to the ground, twisting in agony. A tear fell out of her eye as she was being tortured. "Stop," She whimpered. "Stop, please..." The man cackled as he forced her to a standing position. Luna let out a cry of pain and he released her from the curse. Luna crumpled to the ground and brushed a tear away as her bones ached intensely. "I'll see you soon," The man said, striding out the door. Luna heard the sound of a lock clicking, and the lights went out, leaving Luna to silently cry on the floor.

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_**A/N:**_ Poor, poor Luna. She's found herself in the Malfoy Manor again, but who's holding her captive this time?

I hope I've kept her in character... since Luna has never been described in a situation like this, and she's always very... kind of easy going and 'floaty', if you get what I mean! So, writing about her when she's going through a situation like this makes it hard. Also, I'm sure Luna would have changed slightly, after she was locked up for months, surely Voldermort tortured her. What I'm saying is, she isn't going to be quite as dreamy and Luna-ish as she was before. However, I've kept her in character the best that I can, so I hope it's okay. Thank you for all the reviews so far! They're really helpful. Please review!

Oh, and I found a spelling mistake in the prologue. If there are any others that you notice, I'm sorry! Feel free to PM me about it if it annoys you. Sorry, I do my best but slips will probably occur.


	4. Deviousness

George Weasley woke up the next morning with a headache. He blinked and wondered what he was doing in a tent when he remembered; he was looking for Luna. He rubbed his eyes, yawning. He stood up and stretched, his back cracking pleasantly. He put some socks on and was pleased to find coffee beans in the kitchen. Leaving the coffee beans on the table, he went outside, relieved himself by the trees and started gathering wood for a fire. He would get it started and then boil water for coffee over the top. As George was gathering water from the lake he'd apparated near, he stood up. "What am I doing?" He asked himself, stupidly. "I'm a wizard, for God's sake." He muttered to himself and walked back to the tent, glad to see the sun shining brightly. He got out his wand and boiled the water instantly. He got a mug with a picture of the Chudley Cannons out of the cupboard and went to pick the coffee beans up off the table.

The table was empty except for George's jacket he'd thrown on there the night before. He heard a scraping sound behind him, and he looked up, only to see the tin of coffee beans on the kitchen bench. He squinted at it, then back at the table, then back at the kitchen bench. He shook his head and drew his wand, saying, "Accio coffee bean," and the lid of the tin opened, sending one coffee bean flying into his mug. George muttered, "Smart alec." to his wand and tried again. "Accio coffee _beans_." And the tin came flying over to the table. He hummed as he brewed his coffee and thought about what he was going to do. He had absolutely no idea where to start. Taking a sip of his hot coffee, he decided that the best place to start was where she was kidnapped. A floorboard creaked loudly behind him and he whizzed around. He couldn't see anybody there. "Must just be the wind," He shrugged. Some shaky breaths followed. George sighed, "Thought I wouldn't notice?" and jumped up, grabbing what appeared to be thin air and yanking it. He threw the Cloak of Invisibility to the ground, revealing Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville, huddled up together. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?" George asked, angry. Ron nervously smiled, "Would you believe taking a walk?"

George set the four mugs of coffee in front of Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville. He sat down next to Hermione and took a sip of his own, which had now gone cold. "Now," George said, "would you mind telling me what you're doing here?" The three boys stared at Hermione who was wearing a white cardigan. "Why do I have to explain?" She protested. "You're the smart one," Ron and Harry said in unison. She sighed and took a sip of her coffee.

"Okay, well... the other night, when you left, Ron came back in and he and I..." Hermione glanced at Ron, awkwardly. "We were talking." She said, blushing. Harry playfully nudged Ron under the table. "Anyway, he was drunk and vomiting so I took him back outside. He wouldn't stop and I figured it was a Puking Pastille, I've seen the effects of those. So I cleaned him up—"

"I bet you did," Harry chimed in, smirking.

Hermione shot him a glare and continued with their story. "So, after I cleaned up his _vomit_, _Harry_, Ron had gotten most of the alcohol out of his system. He told me that you had gone, George. When I asked where, Ron said something about you going on a walk. I figured that you were gone for something else and when I got up the next morning, I saw that you'd taken the article about Luna with you, which led me to the conclusion that you'd gone looking for Luna.  
"So, we got together and talked about it, deciding the three of us should go help you. She's our friend, too. We had no idea how to go about looking for you when Ron brilliantly remembered his Deluminator." Hermione smiled at Ron. "So we flicked that on and there it was, a ball of light. Just like... just like when Ron found me. Anyway, the three of us went towards it and Neville came in, just as we were apparating. None of us splinched, but we arrived here, heard you coming back into the tent and panicked, hiding under the invisibility cloak." Hermione finished and nervously took a sip of her coffee.

George looked down at the table. What was he going to do? He couldn't very well send them back. "Fine. You can stay with me. But what about Mum and Dad? Ginny, too. They'll all get worried and send out a search party or something," He said.

"Hermione sorted it out, she's brilliant." Ron said, smiling.

"Thanks Ron," Hermione blushed. The others smirked at each other. Hermione cleared her throat. "They think we're at Hogwarts, helping out Hagrid with restoring the forest. Since last year they haven't really worked on it, their main focus was on rebuilding the castle. So I asked Hagrid to cover for us if your mum gets suspicious."

George grinned. "You guys are finally catching on..."

"Catching onto what?"

"Deviousness."

That night, Hermione was cooking the boys dinner. However sexist this may sound, the truth was she was the only good cook there. While she was preparing some rice, the boys gathered round the table, discussing their plans.

"We have to keep on the move, we leave first thing tomorrow." George said.

"We'll apparate to where Luna was kidnapped, and see if we can find anything there," Harry confirmed.

"What happens if we don't?" Neville asked.

"We don't give up. We look somewhere else." George said, firmly.

The boys nodded in agreement. Hermione brought their food over to the table and took a seat.

"Enjoy your vegetarian curry with rice, boys." She said.

"Ugh, vegetarian?" Ron groaned.

"You think I had meat to cook with?"

Ron grumbled and dug in.

"It's delicious, Hermione." Harry said.

"Yeah, fantastic." Neville agreed, taking another spoonful.

"I'm actually glad you came along," George said. "If you hadn't, I'd be sitting here eating burnt two minute noodles."

Everyone laughed and then looked at Ron, smugly.

Ron put a spoonful in his mouth and smiled. "Okay, it's not half bad." He said, with a mouthful of food. "For a vegetarian dish." He added.

Everyone laughed again and soon, decided to go to bed. They needed their rest for tomorrow.

As George lay on the top bunk, his arms linked behind his head, he thought himself insane for doing what he was doing. He was searching for a girl, who he didn't even know all that well. Well... that was debatable. He reflected on how well he knew Luna and he realised that she was one of his closest friends. It was strange how no one ever noticed, and even stranger that he himself didn't realise how good friends they were. He guessed he hadn't really thought about anything much since Fred died. He pulled up his blanket and turned on his side. He heard Hermione and Ron whispering. "Can the two lovebirds let us sleep?" George groaned. "Yeah," Harry agreed, yawning. Ron and Hermione giggled sheepishly and quietened down. For some reason, George still couldn't get to sleep. He kept thinking about Luna, and it seemed to make him more awake. _Get some sleep, George_. He thought to himself. _You've got a big day tomorrow._ Yet he couldn't even imagine just how big it was going to be.


	5. The Meaning Behind the Words

_**A/N:**_First of all, I'd just like to say thank you so, so much for all the reviews! They mean so, so much! Please, keep reviewing! Also, I'm moving the rating up to T, just to be safe. I've moved it to T because of the torture scenes. Although, the story would probably be fine for a slightly younger reader, I just want to be safe. This chapter is particularly short, and to make up for it I will post the next chapter very soon, just because you guys are so nice :)

DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I still do not own Harry Potter. If I did... *imagining possibilities*.

Enjoy!

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A dim light, perhaps from a lantern, appeared in the doorway. Luna didn't move. She heard a thump on the ground and looked over. Her eyes widened, realising it was food and water. She scrambled over to it. She hadn't eaten anything since she got here, however long ago that was. She grabbed it and the dim light faded up the stairs. She felt what she was given, and realised it was bread and water. Usually, Luna only had a small appetite but her stomach had been growling from hunger for what seemed like days now. Sometimes Luna felt so hungry that she felt like she was going to vomit. Getting this bread and water was like a gift from the gods, and she'd scoffed down half the loaf before realising she should ration it. Although her stomach still felt empty, she took one last bite and put the bread down. She reached for the water and felt a chalice. Taking it, she brought it to her lips and took as small a sip as possible and put it back. Luna didn't know where to put the bread and water, if she left them where they were she would loose them in the darkness, or trip over them. Suddenly, she felt one of the concrete pillars besides her. She took exactly four steps across and found the next one. Exactly four steps down and found the one behind it. Another four steps, she found the next one and four steps forwards took her to where she began. _It's a square_, Luna thought, _I will not move from this square I mapped out, every time I walk I will feel about for a pillar, if I feel it then I will turn around and walk the other way. _

Just then, the bright lights turned on again. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust and she looked up, seeing the masked man yet again. "I see you've rationed out your food," He mocked. Luna looked down and saw that she ate a little more than half the loaf and had drunk most of the water. She bit the inside of her lip nervously, she had no idea how long it was going to be before he fed her again. "Tell me, how have you been doing?" He asked. She said nothing. When she had first spoken, she cried out for help but the man said there was no one there. And since no one replied, she concluded that there wasn't. Besides, she did not have the energy to cry out anymore, and was afraid that the man would come back and torture her. She did not feel the need to speak anymore. "SPEAK TO ME!" He yelled, causing Luna to jump in fright. Tears fell down her face as she shook her head. The man growled and drew his wand, shooting tendrils of severe pain through Luna.

* * *

The Cruciatis Curse is a spell that not many can tell you about. We can guess what it feels like, but never has there been a survivor that will speak of it. And so, dear reader, I cannot fully describe to you the pain Luna goes through when under this dreadful curse. All I can say is the screams, emanating from that basement, were ones of true horror. They shrilled through air, and it destroys me to recall how the man enjoyed it. He laughed, a cruel laugh and a twisted smile was plastered to his face. How easily he stood there, sending volts of pain through her body baffles me. Sure, you can say it is just a spell. All you need to do is say a word and point your wand but do not doubt me when I say this: it takes more than just doing that. Anyone could do it. A muggle could perform the action, but a muggle could not perform the curse. I myself, as a skilled witch, could not do it. It takes more than just the words, it takes meaning behind them, too.

* * *

And so, as Luna twisted to the ground in utter agony, the man stopped the curse. He would drag out the torture for a long time, rather than killing her off at once. He left, the lights going out as he went. Luna's insides seemed to burn and ache so intensely that she wondered if this could really be happening. Nothing could ever hurt so badly— of course it was happening. You could not feel such pain in but a dream.

Luna was splayed out on the floor, her left arm twisted backwards, right leg bent awkwardly, stretched out to the side and her back arched, yet her shoulders and waist remained on the ground. It was an awful sight to see, yet it was so dark that you could not see anything, anyway. However, the loneliness and darkness seemed to make Luna's pain multiply by the millions.

She cried out in pain. She could not help it. The fireball of pain that shot through her was too much. It felt like her bones were twisting in ways they shouldn't, but still not breaking. She couldn't pull herself to a standing position, and didn't want to. She just wanted to lay there and let life take her. But it wouldn't, not yet.

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**_Don't forget: Next chapter will be up very soon, just for you!_**


	6. Very Odd Indeed

_**A/N:**_As promised, the next chapter is up fairly quickly. Thanks for all the reviews so far. **I love reviews like Hermione loves books, or like Dumbledore loves Sherbet Lemons. Or like Fred and George love pranks, or like...**

**You get the idea. I really apreaciate reviews. Please review! **

****Now, without further adieu ...

* * *

_Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!_

George Weasley groaned, sitting up.

_Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!_

His first thought was, 'Where is that annoying sound coming from?' and his second thought was, 'Oh yeah, I set an alarm.' and his third thought was, 'I have to get up and find Luna.'

_Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!_

George jumped off the top bunk and saw his wand, sitting on the table. It was flashing brightly and jumping up each time it—

_Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!_

Each time did that. His wand started rattling on the table, screaming, 'Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!' in a fast frenzy. George held his hand out to it, "Stop. Stooop..." He commanded, as if training a dog. His wand jumped up in the air and started sending out beams of red light to everyone in the room. "MEEP! MEEP! MEEP! MEEP!" It screamed, frantically. George heard some groans from everyone and he told them not to worry; it was just his alarm. "C'mon... be a good boy, and stop." George ordered. It just started 'meeping' louder. "GODDAMN IT! I'M AWAKE, YOU STUPID WAND!" George yelled. The wand hesitated for a moment and then fell onto the table, no longer imitating an alarm clock. "Bloody stick." George muttered, shaking his head.

Ron groaned and flopped out of bed, landing with a thump on the floor. "George?" He muttered.

"Morning, sunshine."

Ron groaned again and untangled himself from the mess of blankets that engulfed him.

"Morning." Hermione said, rubbing her eyes.

"What's the time?" Neville asked.

Harry checked his watch. "Five am."

"What?" Ron exclaimed. "So this is what it looks like at five in the morning," He groaned, pulling a shirt on.

"I don't want to waste any time." Neville said.

"Right, we should quickly have breakfast and stuff. I want to be getting going in no less than ten minutes." George agreed.

"I'll get a start on breakfast," Hermione said, walking to the kitchen.

"Okay, the rest of us will pack up and get dressed." Harry confirmed, putting his glasses on.

Everyone nodded in agreement and started packing up their things and getting dressed. Hermione had two loaves of bread and four eggs. She sighed and called out, "We're going to have to pick up some food while we're out. I have nothing to cook with,"

"Alright. Just make do with what you have for now," George said, throwing his things into a bag.

Hermione cooked up the four eggs and bread in a flash, and served them on the table. "Breakfast!" She called. Four boys rushed at her and scoffed down the breakfast. Hermione ate some toasted bread and let the boys have the eggs. Soon, they were all packed up and ready to go.

"Alright, we are going to the place where she was kidnapped. I don't know what we'll find there but..." George trailed off.

"Okay. Let's do this." Harry said, pulling the tent onto his back.

The group had formed a circle and everyone reached their hands into the middle of it. They looked at Hermione and she said, "On the count of three. One... two..." George shut his eyes. He didn't know what he hoped to find when they got there. In truth, he didn't really know why he was so intent on finding Luna. They were good friends he guessed. But it seemed to be something more than that—

"Three." Hermione finished.

They were sucked into the swirling and twisting tornado of travel. They were all used to it of course, now they apparated all the time. Within seconds, they had arrived at a beach where the sun was shining through grey clouds.

"A beach? She was kidnapped at a beach?" Ron asked, spitting sand out of his mouth.

"Dolt," George rolled his eyes. "she was kidnapped over there, by that alleyway."

Ron looked where George was pointing. "Oh." He said, realising. "Gloomy."

They began to trudge through the sand, and jumped onto some rocks, Ron reaching his hand out to pull Hermione up. Neville bent down suddenly, causing Harry to nearly trip over him.

"Whoa!" Harry exclaimed, regaining his balance.

"Sorry Harry," Neville said, standing up. "but look what I found."

Everyone watched as Neville revealed a small piece of purple cloth. It was about ten centimetres long, and had obviously come off a piece of clothing.

"It was snagged on this rock," Neville said, stomping on the rock he was standing on.

"Good find," Harry said, squinting at the torn, purple cloth.

"Put it in here." Hermione said, opening her beaded bag. Neville dropped it in the bag and they started to head towards the dreaded alleyway.

Arriving at the alleyway, the first thing George noticed was that it had been cleaned. Well cleaned. "I don't know whether we're going to find anything here, guys." He sighed, lighting up the tip of his wand.

"Remain optimistic, George," Harry said, lighting his wand up as well.

"You can't tell George Weasley to remain optimistic. I am the World's Biggest Optimist!" George joked. Although he had a happy, calm exterior, his insides felt ice cold as he thought about the blood they had found here. Luna's blood.

"Hey, look." Ron pointed underneath a rusty newspaper stand around the corner of the alleyway. George hopped over to him, and cringed as he saw dried blood.

"Guys, I-I don't know if I can do this..." Neville said, looking away from the blood stain, Harry walked up to his friend.

"It's okay," Harry reassured. "we'll find her, Neville, I promise."

Neville exhaled deeply and nodded, turning around to face the others again. Hermione stared sadly at poor Neville, she knew how much Luna meant to him.

"Hey, it looks like Luna fought back..." George said, reaching his hand underneath a prickly bush. He winced a little as the branches scraped across his arm, tearing his skin. He took his arm back out and showed the others a piece of black cloth, about the same size as the purple one but it had a barely visible blood stain on it.

"I can't believe the aurors' missed that..." Hermione said, shaking her head.

"It was way under the bush. Besides, they only just started the search. She disappeared... what was it... four days ago now?" George reasoned, dropping the piece of cloth into the beaded bag.

"I guess," Hermione shrugged. She turned around and squinted confusingly at Neville.

"Merlin's beard, Neville!" She exclaimed at the boy. He was snaking underneath the rusty newspaper stand.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, crouching down next to him.

Neville's tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he reached up and tore something off the base of the newspaper stand and he smiled, saying, "Got it."

"What did you find?" George asked, helping Neville get back out.

"This," Neville held a piece of paper up in his hand. It was about a quarter of a page large and a little yellowed.

"But this..." Hermione said, squinting.

"It's a... a newspaper clipping. From the Daily Prophet," Ron chimed in.

"Why would a newspaper clipping be taped to the underside of a broken down newspaper stand?" George asked himself more than anyone else.

"I dunno..." Neville shrugged. He smoothed out the paper on a brick wall and smiled to himself. "But look at this..."

George furrowed his brow, seeing a moving photo of a screaming Lucius Malfoy at the side of the page. "Malfoy? But why?" He was not the only one who looked confused.

"It's dated five days ago. Here, I'll read it." Neville said, licking his lips to begin.

"It says here that Malfoy was announced missing..." With the very first sentence he found himself confused. He shook his head and continued. "Two and a half weeks ago. That'd be just over three weeks, now. Local aurors' say that he left without a trace. The first place they checked was The Malfoy Manor, where he lived. But... it says that it was completely deserted. No one there. It looked like he had made a run for it though. Why? No one knows. When they talked to his family members, Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, they had no comment until Lucius' only son, Draco, yelled to a reporter, He's not my father! And..." Neville trailed off. Malfoy had been so proud of his father, all of his life. What had happened now?

"That's odd. That's very odd. Yes, very odd indeed," Harry muttered to himself.

"Thank you, Mr Potter. Your ability to state the obvious has been noted, yes." George deadpanned.

"Sorry," Harry flashed a quick smile before looking puzzled again. "Hey! Look..."

Everyone looked to where Harry was pointing, and saw that the Malfoy Manor had been encircled in ink.

"That's odd. That's very—" Harry cleared his throat and said, "I wonder why someone would have done that?"

"Goddamn." George cursed.

"What?" Ron asked.

Hermione's eyes scanned the page and she shakily exhaled. "Whoever left this here, they didn't do it by accident."

"Yeah, gathered that from the fact that it was taped underneath a rusty newspaper stand,"

"Listen. Malfoy disappeared. His home was the first thing searched, but The Malfoy Manor is circled. It's a clue."

"Clue? What do you mean 'clue'?" Ron asked, still confused.

"It means that son-of-a-bitch took Luna!" George almost yelled out of his fury.

Everyone was taken aback for a second, from George's outburst. Hermione tried to remain rational. "Listen, George. We don't know that, all we know is that the Malfoy Manor is most likely where she's being kept and—"

"And Lucius Malfoy has disappeared. And that's his home. And his family hates him. He's the one, Hermione. He's taken her." George said, thrusting his hand toward the newspaper clipping.

Hermione sighed and, like it pained her to do so, she admitted, "That seems to be the only explanation at the moment. But there are other questions to be answered, like—"

"You know where those questions will be answered?" Harry asked, rhetorically.

George nodded at him. "The Malfoy Manor."


	7. Unmasked

**_A/N:_** Hello, it is my uttermost pleasure to unveil chapter five to you. Reviews make my life complete! Thanks SO much for the reviews so far!

After that rather odd author's note... Take a gander below this sentence, where chapter five should be... Hopefully. It wanders off sometimes. Enjoy!

* * *

Luna had not seen nor heard the masked man for two days. Usually, he would come every single day, sometimes even twice. Of course, Luna had no sense of time, trapped in the basement of the Malfoy Manor. She now had about a third of a loaf of bread, plus a quarter of another but no water. Luna always kept within the four concrete pillars, unless she needed to relieve herself. Then she would take a few steps outside the square. She had not washed in days, nor had she eaten properly. With the growing stench of her waste and uncleanliness, she felt more and more sick as the days went on. And as Luna sat, leaning her back against the concrete pillar, trying to quench her thirst by drinking her own saliva, she realised she had had enough. Although she felt physically weak, her fury toward this masked man gave her a new kind of strength. She stood up, almost immediately falling back down. She hadn't stood in a while, and her legs still ached from a few days ago. This time, she stood more carefully, and walked around a bit, awakening her legs from their sleep. She nearly jumped in fright when she saw the dim light again. She heard echoing footsteps and blinked when the bright lights came on. Quietly, she picked up the chalice and pasted herself up against the wall besides the door. "I haven't seen you in a while. I've been busy," Said the masked man. That voice still sounded familiar to Luna, but there was no time for that now. "Luna?" He asked confused, pushing the door open. Luna quickly reacted and brought the chalice down hard on him. She was aiming for the side of his head but she only got his hand. He was surprised at the attack and his wand flew out of his hand, for a few frightening moments the two kept still. All of a sudden, the lights went out and that is when the real battle began.

It was pitch black again and Luna could see nothing but coloured patches everywhere. This feeling passed and her sight adjusted, now she could see nothing at all. Suddenly, she heard some shuffling about and realised that if the man grabbed his wand it would all be over. Luna didn't know what else to do so she just jumped into the air, hoping to land on the man and grab the wand before he could get a chance. She landed short and crashed to the ground, a searing pain flying up through her nose. She groaned and sat up, realising that she must have pushed the man down to the ground as well. She heard him standing back up, and while Luna may not be the best at self defence, she was smarter than half the people in the world. She crept along the ground, quietly, the masked man, however, was a lot louder and clumsily trod in front of her. Luna's plan would have worked brilliantly, unfortunately, the masked man stepped on the wand. "Your time is up," He sneered, reaching down to grab the wand. Luna had absolutely no idea what else to do, she surely couldn't hold him off, he was far too strong for her. So, she got up and ran. A little bit of light was still showing by the doorway and she ran towards it. _Boy, that sounds bad_, she thought, _head towards the light!_ Without worrying about keeping quiet, she sprinted full speed up the stairs and towards an open room. Arriving, she knew she had absolutely no time, the man was already bounding up the stairs. She bit her lip and ran to her left, entering another room. This room had a huge bookshelf and a few chairs, nothing useful. The next room she ran into had a door, and she quickly piled up chairs in front of it, so the masked man could not get in. She realised that he had his wand, anyway, so it would not matter. Sprinting through the next room, she found herself at a dead end. She heard the man charging through the barrier she built and she desperately looked around for something. All of a sudden, she saw a wand on a desk in the room. It wasn't hers, but it would have to do.

She grabbed it and shut her eyes, conjuring up a patronus to send to... who should I send it to? She thought desperately. Her breath was loud and sharp as she heard the man coming through the next room. "George. George. Help me. Help. I'm in the—" Luna was only part way through the patronus when the man charged in and she frantically tried to finish her message before a piercing pain took over her body. She screamed and let the wand go, her message sending off to George. _George? Why would I send a message to George?_ He was just the first person who popped into her head for some reason. _But why would—_

Her body snapped into the air, back arched, face terror stricken. Her mouth was open, like she was screaming but no sound was made. Her matted hair hung behind her, and it seemed as if everything had stopped. Of course, it had not. Pain still pulsed through her very veins, as if her blood itself had curdled and changed to liquid pain. In a flash, she went from being suspended in air to a writhing mess of agony on the carpeted ground. Poor Luna made horrible noises, halfway between a hiccup and a choking sob. Her limbs were being thrust about all over the place, twisting at the joints in ways they shouldn't. She started shaking violently and the sounds emanating from Luna became more pronounced and struggled. Foam seeped from the corner of her mouth and the masked man released her from the spell. Luna now remained perfectly still, silent tears streaming out of her silvery eyes.

"That is what happens if you try to defy me, don't you dare try again." He said, spitting on her.

Luna gathered up enough strength to say, "I-I'll... never s-s-st-stop. N-nev-never—"

The masked man laughed, cruelly. It was a deep laugh, that seemed to chase you in your nightmares. "You'll never give up," He laughed, crouching down, next to her face. He laughed harder now. "You cannot resist any longer against the spells I put you through. If you think you can..." He laughed again.

Luna suddenly burned up with fury and tried to strike him across the face. In her weakened state, she could barely lift her arm up. Yet, when she went to slap him, her fingers hooked onto the death eater's mask and tore it away, by pure accident. The man screamed, falling to the ground in shock. He looked up at Luna in rage. Luna gasped in realisation, she knew exactly who this man was. She saw him all the time! Breathlessly, she uttered, "You're... you're... ugh." before gratefully sinking into a painless state of unconsciousness.


	8. Empty Shells

**_A/N:_** Goodness me! It has been a very long time since I last updated, almost a week, I think! I am so incredibly sorry it took so long, trust me to leave you on a cliff hanger! I've been busy this week, so I didn't have much time to update so again, sorry. Lets hope this chapter has been worth waiting for!

Again, thanks so much for all the support, reviews make my day 3000 times better! Enjoy!

* * *

_Nearly eight months after The Battle of Hogwarts, a man with long, white blonde hair stands in a large room. Outside it is pouring with rain; not good flying weather. The man looks as of he was once important... a hero in the eyes of some, perhaps. Now, his eyes are grey, and have sunk deep into their sockets, his face seemingly hollow and empty. Defeated, even. Although he stands tall, it seems as if everyone towers over him, and so he remains; cowering in the shadows of these people._

_"Cissy—"_

_"No! Lucius," A woman snaps. She has very strong features and a tongue like a whip. She too looks worn, a little more alive than the man in front of her but defeated, nonetheless. "I have given you chance after chance. I put up with all your ridiculousness about The Dark Lord for years, Lucius. And you never—"_

_"Ridiculousness?" The man hisses. "Don't you dare say anything against The Lord. Did you not speak the truth when you gave Him your word?"_

_"Lucius! You know I would not speak against Him but please... think of Draco. He was so close to becoming a death eater. Our son. Our little boy." She brushes a bitter tear away with a slender finger, hands shaking slightly._

_"I love our son. You know that." He sneers._

_"So you claim. You cannot say you love someone, and then completely ignore them. Where have you been all Draco's life? Skulking in the shadows? Convincing him to join The Dark Side?"_

_"I cannot believe this! Ridiculous! I thought you were a faithful server of— He thought you were his faithful servant! How can you—"_

_"Listen! All I'm saying is I care more about the welfare of our son,"_

_"He's eighteen years of age! The boy can take care of himself!"_

_"Lucius!" The woman almost screams. He is taken aback, and remains silently stunned for a few moments. The woman sighs, taking a seat. "Or should I even call you that."_

_"W-what?"_

_"You are not the same man I met all those years ago. You are not the same man I married."_

_The man's eyes suddenly seem to shimmer in fear. "Cissy—"_

_"Do you remember our wedding day? You said that you would take care of me, 'till death do us part,"_

_"And I have, I will—"_

_"You promised me that you would become my servant." She scoffs a little. "Back then I did not know that you meant The Dark Lord's."_

_"Cissy, please. Don't do—"_

_"I remember when I told you that I was pregnant. That I was going to give you a little boy."_

_The man grimaces, like he is in great pain. "Cissy, of course I do."_

_"You were so happy," Her eyes are shimmering. "so very happy."_

_The man stood, swaying on his feet._

_"But as soon as he was born... you took your pathetic self and went to The Lord." She gets up and stands by the window; rain drops streaking down the glass looking like tears. "That night when he... went to the Potter's... you still worshipped him. You spent more time with Him than Draco and myself. Now that He has gone, you are trying to regain all you had." She turns around to face her husband. "Lucius. Dear Lucius,"_

_He shakily smiles when she puts her soft hand on his cheek. "Cissy, my darling..."_

_Suddenly, she turns around and grabs her wand off the table. "Draco!" She calls._

_"No. No, no, no! Cissy! Wait—" Pleads the desperate man. An eighteen year old boy with white blonde hair, just like his father's, walks down a grand staircase. "Draco. My son—"_

_"I'm not your son." And with that, he leaves out the door, carrying a trunk behind him._

_"Narcissa!" Cries the man._

_She is about to leave, her bags packed, hand on the doorknob. She shuts her shimmering eyes and quickly turns around, kissing him on the cheek. "That is the last you'll ever get from me. You are the worn out shell of a once speeding bullet. But it is done; someone has pulled the trigger and you've flown through the air. Now, you've stopped and dropped to the ground. Empty. The empty shell remains, I don't know where the old Lucius is," Her voice cracks at the end of her sentence and she turns around. "Goodbye." She whispers, shutting the door._

_"Wait!" He cries, but it was too late. The woman and her son had apparated to another place. Tears stream out of the man's eyes and his mouth remains open, as if he were trying to say something. If he looked defeated before, it was nothing compared to this. He looks incredibly skeletal, his skin sagging a little. Her words echo in his head... He was nothing but an empty shell. An empty shell. Empty..._

_This was not true. He is not empty. He is full of tears, and sadness, and hate, and anger, and regret, and sorrow. He sobs and cries in pain. Seeing a grown man cry is an awful thing, but it didn't matter. No one would see him cry, Lucius was alone. All alone._

_Potter. It's all Potter's fault. If he hadn't gathered so many on his side and defeated Him, everything would still be okay. He wouldn't be alone. But how would Lucius get to Potter, to punish him? Potter would not be the only one to be punished, all the others that supported him, too. That Weasley kid... no, too hard to get. How about Granger? No, she's always around Weasley, and she's too quick, too sharp. Suddenly, the rattling windows burst open, sending rushing winds blowing papers off the desk. The man jumps up and shuts the windows, water spraying in his face as he does. Once they were secure once more, he set out to pack up all the papers that had been scattered around the room. He picks one up, a magazine. He can't remember where he'd gotten it from. As he reads the booklet's front cover, all he see's are the words, "THE BOY WHO LIVES HAS LIVED FOR A REASON!" and below that he sees a cartoon of Voldemort, being slain by Potter. Lucius grows angry and throws the magazine down, hard on the ground. After he gathers himself up, the title of the magazine catches his eye. The Quibbler. A cruel smile creeps onto Lucius's face and he allows a laugh to escape. Picking it up, he sees the editor's name. Lovegood. Yes, that Lovegood girl, she's good friends with Potter. It would be easy to get her, and he could keep her in the basement until Potter came to save her. After all, she'd been easy enough to keep locked up before. Lucius throws his head back and laughs a deranged laugh._

Lucius used to be a nice man, but he soon turned to the dark side and it took over his life. He worshipped Voldemort, and Lucius's life began to revolve around pleasing him. Sadly, when Lord Voldemort was killed, his life took a different turn. It was as if his sanity was slowly dissolving, and as if the death of the man he so admired wasn't enough, his wife and son leaving him was the final blow; the empty shell shattering into pieces as it hit the ground.

And so, as he maliciously cackled, he was unaware of how scarily insane he looked. If anyone else were in the room, they would have had him whisked off to St Mungo's insanity ward. Alas, poor Lucius was alone, and already planning his escape and attack. Never again would anyone see Lucius Malfoy, not until dark magic had returned. But for now, this sadly deranged man... he would vanish.


	9. The Rabbit's Message

Author's note at the end :)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, all credit goes to the wonderful J.K. and Warner Bros.

* * *

After doing one final check of the alleyway, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and George decided to head straight to the Malfoy Manor. As Hermione grabbed her beaded bag and prepared to apparate them all to the Malfoy's, a blue streak appeared in the sky. George squinted at it.

"Hey, is it just me or is that..."

"A patronus." Harry agreed.

The patronus whooshed down and appeared, suddenly, in front of them, the animal's head facing George.

"Oh God," Neville whimpered. "Oh thank God. It's Luna's."

The other's gasped, realising that it was Luna's rabbit patronus. It began to speak, Luna's voice cracked and slightly fuzzy.

"George. George. Help me. Help. I'm in the—" Before they could hear the rest of her sentence their ears were filled with the terrifying shrill of Luna's scream. Then, nothing.

"That's Luna. Oh God," Poor Neville looked green.

George's mouth hung slightly open. George. George. Help me. She had sent the patronus to him. Why? Why would she—

"That scream. That was her screaming," Neville was having a break down.

"Nev. She's fine. She managed to get to us, we know she's alive," Harry tried to calm him down.

"Do we?" Neville retorted.

Harry tried to find the right words to answer but he couldn't get anything out.

"I didn't think so," Neville whispered, hugging himself.

George licked his lips, for no particular reason. He felt... odd. He was frightened and angry at the fact that Luna was... but he also felt guiltily happy that she had sent the patronus to him. He wondered why she had, and as if reading George's mind, Neville spoke up.

"Why would she send it to you?" He asked, looking at George. George had no answer, as he did not know himself.

"Well, she obviously had hardly any time to send the message," Hermione tried to explain. "so George must have been the first person she thought of."

Neville looked slightly annoyed. "Well, yeah. But why would she think of George first?" More silence ensued. George wasn't really sure where Neville was going with this. Before he could ask, Neville continued. "What are you to her?"

George looked at Neville, confused. "Well..." _What am I to her?_ "We're good friends, I guess,"

"You guess?" Neville shot back. "_You guess_ you're going on this quest to find her because _you guess_ she's your friend?"

"Neville—" Hermione tried to stop him.

"No, don't Hermione. I want to hear it." George said calmly, putting his hand out to stop Hermione.

"You want to hear it? You want to hear what I think? I think that you don't really know Luna. I think that you're just looking for her to get attention,"

George scoffed. "Attention? You think I'm searching for someone for attention? Who the hell would do that?"

"I dunno, maybe... you."

"Guys! Stop, what are you—" Hermione pleaded. Ron pulled her back, silencing her. He knew that these boys had to talk it out.

"Listen. Neville. I'm looking for Luna, because she's my friend. And I want to see her again. If you think I'm looking for her to win a bloody medal or something, you're dead wrong." George said, firmly. He watched Neville's hand brush his wand. "Let's not make a big thing of this, Nev. We are both looking for her because of the same reason—"

"No we're not!" Neville yelled, causing Hermione to jump. Ron took her hand, Harry following suit.

"Then why are you looking for her?" George said, very calmly.

This seemed to stump Neville. It looked like tears were forming in his eyes. "Because I... I..." He looked away from George's eyes. "I love her."

Instead of being touched by this, some weird kind of fury rose up inside George. He was suddenly annoyed by the naïvety of Neville's comment. George wasn't really sure what emotion took over him then, all he knew was that he was angry at Neville. "Why did you even come? You just jumped in at the last minute! You're not supposed to be here!" He snapped. Hermione started crying a little, and she rested her head on Ron's shoulder. He embraced her, gently stroking her hair.

"So you don't want me?" Neville yelled.

"Do I have to spell it?"

"Fine! I don't need you, anyway. But when you go away and get your medal for saving her, if you save her, I'll know how shallow you really are. You can enjoy your glory, fine, but when everyone sees how cruel you are, don't come running to me!"

Neville briskly turned around and began to head off. George's fury subsided a little and he realised what he'd done. Although, he knew it wasn't entirely his fault. "Nev, wait up!" Harry called, running off after his friend.

Hermione whimpered from Ron's shoulder. "Yeah, good one, George." Ron scowled.

George put his hands on his hips and bit the inside of his lip. He'd never meant to hurt Neville, but then again, maybe it would be better without him. "Look, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to do that. But he just... Harry will get Nev back." George said to Ron, but he felt uncertain. He was still hot with rage, but he did regret what he'd said.

Ron watched his brother, and immediately felt sorry for him, he realised what was going through George's head. "Mate, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I know you wouldn't—"

"I did. I meant those things. But God, I didn't mean to..." George trailed off, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, to be fair, he shouldn't have said those things either."

"No. No he should have. He was right."

"George—"

"It's fine." Before Ron could say otherwise, George briskly walked off, towards Harry and, hopefully, Neville. Ron watched after his brother and held Hermione a little tighter.

* * *

George picked up his pace a little, heading towards the two boy's figures. He was travelling at an awkward pace; in between a walk and a run. He could vaguely hear their voices, but not clearly enough to make out what they were saying. His wand was digging into his thigh through the back pocket of his jeans, so he took it out and held it in a slightly shaky hand. In a flash, Neville's figure disappeared. George stopped dead in his tracks and stared where Neville once was, his mouth hanging open slightly. He cursed and grabbed a handful of hair, pulling hard. His arm snapped back to his side and he ran towards Harry, stumbling a little when he jumped onto the beach.

"What happened?" George asked, stopping next to Harry.

"I was just about to ask the same question," Harry snapped back. Immediately afterwards, he apologised. "Sorry George, I didn't mean that. I really didn't."

"Of course you did." George said, not meeting Harry's eyes. Harry said nothing. "Sorry. I'm sorry, Harry. Where'd he go?" George asked, looking at Harry.

"I dunno, I was talking to him, saying it'll be okay. I said that he and Luna are so close that no matter what happened, everything would be okay." George felt an odd twinge in his stomach, he wasn't sure why. "But then..." Harry continued. "Nev, he just... He got really upset when I said that and yelled at me. Then he just... Apparated."

George's jaw went tight as he nodded. Harry looked at his friend, wondering what to say. "George... Nev shouldn't have said those things—"

"No. No. Stop. Just..." George sat down on one of the rocks, sighing. "Look, I never wanted him to leave. I really regret saying what I said, but I mean... Still, he shouldn't have said that. I mean... What was with him, anyway? How could he accuse me of wanting to save Luna to get attention?" George asked, angrily.

"Well... He's going through a hard time. He really loves her—"

"Yeah, yeah. I know, Harry. He made it damn clear." George retorted, unable to control his emotions. Harry was about to say something back, but decided not to. Harry wondered if George had feelings for Luna, but Hermione and Ron rushed over, interrupting his thoughts. Harry explained what had happened to the pair, but George walked away slightly. He didn't want to hear it again. Neville was his friend, and George really liked him, but what he had just said... George suddenly wondered why he got so fired up when Neville said that he loved her. It was an odd feeling when Neville confessed his feelings, a feeling George didn't think he'd ever felt to that extent before. _What was it? Anger, perhaps? Well, anger was there too, but this was a different emotion. Annoyance? No, George knew very well what that felt like. This wasn't it. Jealousy?_ George blinked. Jealousy? _Could it be? But why would he be jealous. The only reason to be jealous would be..._

"George." Ron called him over. "Hey, we don't blame you, alright? We like Neville, but just now... He was being a git."

George looked over to the three of them, who were staring into his eyes. They're telling the truth. "I thought you'd hate me. I mean, I—"

"It wasn't your fault." Hermione said, her eyes a little red.

George stared at her. "But... are you sure you..."

"Mate. Please, trust us. We don't blame you," Ron said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"We'll sort this out with Neville later. For now, let's keep on the move." Harry said.

George reluctantly nodded.

"George," Hermione said, standing by Ron. "you're our friend. No one and nothing will change that."

George gave an involuntary smile and walked along the beach with them, feeling a bit better.

"We should get back on task, and talk about this later." Hermione said, interrupting the silence.

George came to a stop, the others following suit. "When she sent me... the message. She didn't get a chance to tell us where she was. Where should we go?"

"I think we should keep heading to the Malfoy Manor," Harry said.

"I agree." Hermione nodded.

"Okay, we should go straight away, have we got everything?" Ron asked.

"I think so." Hermione said, patting her beaded bag.

"Okay. On the count of three. To the Malfoy Manor." George said, placing his hand in the middle of the circle they'd made. Harry put his hand on top of George's, Ron doing the same and finally Hermione placed her's on Ron's.

"One," George said, heaving the tent onto his back. "Two." He flicked his eyes up to Ron. He nodded. George inhaled deeply. He wasn't sure whether he'd be prepared for what he'd find at the Malfoy Manor. _Luna's scream... No. She's alive. Alive. I'm going to see her. I'll see her silvery eyes again, her white blond hair... You can do this. You can find her. There's no more looking, just finding. Finding Luna. _"Three."

* * *

_**A/N:**_ _PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!_

_Okay, right now, you are probably burning up with fury and planning the murder of me in great detail. First of all: I LOVE NEVILLE. He is one of my favourite characters. I think that Neville/Luna work really well together, and I love the pairing - but do not get me wrong, this is a George/Luna fanfic. Please do NOT think that I was trying to make Neville look like the bad guy in this. What I am NOT going to do is have Neville rage, leave and that's the last you've heard of him. THE REASON FOR THIS ARGUMENT WILL BE EXPLAINED VERY SOON! Once you hear the explanation, hopefully you will understand. PLEASE: Do not think, "Oh, this is rubbish. She's gotten rid of Neville. I'm going to stop reading this now." KEEP READING AND ALL WILL BE EXPLAINED! I promise. PROMISE!_

_ Apart from that, I hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for the next chapter!_


	10. You Destroyed My Hope

_**A/N:**_Okay, to begin with, I am SO sorry that this took ages to update - I've been really busy. Really, really sorry for making you wait. Please forgive me! :)

Also, I got no reviews since the last chapter I put up, and I'm afraid I've scared some people off with Neville leaving... *bites nails nervously* I promised you I would explain his leaving, and that promise should be fulfilled in the next chapter. Please keep reading! (And reviewing! Ha, ha)

So, again... Sorry, sorry, sorry for the long waiting period to update, the next few should be quicker, hopefully. Keep reading and reviewing!

DISCLAIMER: Nothing has changed since last time, I still don't miraculously own Harry Potter. :( Sadly...

* * *

_He walked towards her, his ginger hair shining brightly. He was considerably taller than her, and very skinny, yet well built. He wore jeans and an orange checkered shirt again. He reached his arm out to her, and just as she was about to grab it he began to disintegrate. "Wait!" She cried, tears forming in her silvery eyes. "Don't go! You can't leave!" She pleaded. Nearly his whole arm had disappeared now, like confetti in the wind. "I can't stay, Luna, but don't worry. I will find you. Soon, you and I will be together. Soon... I promise..." The left side of his body was disappearing quickly, and the girl made a pathetic attempt to try and grab the confetti back. "No! Please, stay!" She cried. The man's voice was slowly disintegrating with his body. "N-nooo... You k-know I c-can't ssstay," His voice was becoming muffled, as if he were speaking under water. "I p-promise. Soon..."_

* * *

When Luna awoke, she found herself staring into the cold, hard eyes of Lucius Malfoy. She nearly screamed, and then remembered what had happened. _I fell unconscious, after tearing his mask off, but what... Oh! I was sending a message to George!_ To George? Why George? _Wait... Who is the masked man? I've forgotten... Wasn't he..._

Luna shrieked as a sharp pain brought her to a standing position.

"You're awake," Said the man, gently releasing her from the curse.

Luna gasped at the relief of the pain. "Yes, I—" She looked up at him, and her eyes flashed in recognition. "B-but.. You... You're—"

"B-but, I-I'm..." The man mocked.

Luna stared at him, his once silky, long, white-blonde hair was now cut short; choppy and uneven, resting just above his shoulders. His skin sagged, eye sockets hollow. Black robes swayed around his feet, torn but wearable. He had yellowed fingernails that had grown long and dirty. At first glance, you would not recognise him. At first glance, he would just look like a man who didn't bother making himself look presentable. At first glance, you would not imagine that on the inside he was a tangled jungle of rage, sadness, loneliness and most importantly, brokenness. Of course, first glances are never as they seem. First glances are things you should never trust, to judge something we must never look onto it, but rather into it.

"Malfoy," Luna said, more confidently than she thought she would. "Lucius Malfoy."

Lucius grinned, suddenly appearing right in Luna's face, his nose almost touching hers. Luna winced as he pressed her up against the wall, she could smell his foul breath dancing on his lips with each word he spoke. "You remember. You've been out for a while, my dear, lucky you woke in time." He suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared in the doorway.

Luna stared at him, cautious. "Woke in time for what?" She asked.

"For your friends to arrive," Lucius said, motioning Luna to follow him out the door to the main room.

"My..." _Oh, right. I sent that message to George._ "Wait— they're coming here?"

"Well, I left them a trail of breadcrumbs to lead them here. They should be here any second now,"

Luna blinked, stupidly. This was a lot to take in. Why would Lucius leave them clues? If he didn't want them to find her then... "Oh," Was all Luna said. A simple word that expressed such great realisation.

"Don't you worry, I've set everything up. We'll be gone in a minute," Lucius picked up his wand and adjusted something by the window sill.

Luna's mouth hung open a little. She didn't know what to say. How could she contact George? Wait... Lucius said friends. _Friends_. Plural. Who else? _Harry, Hermione and Ron? No, not Neville? Dad? _Luna suddenly felt sick. If only she hadn't sent that patronus to George... "You... You can't do that," She said, her mouth becoming increasingly dry.

"I can't? I can't do what?" Lucius mocked, walking over to her.

Luna swallowed. "You can't do... Whatever you're going to do to them. Don't hurt them,"

Lucius laughed, throwing his head back. It was more like a deranged cackle, and Luna stared cautiously at him. After a little while, he stopped awkwardly, and roughly grabbed her hand. His skin was dirty and calloused, scratching Luna's soft wrist as he pulled her up. "Let's go now. They should be here any minute,"

Luna cautiously padded along behind him. As they approached the door, Luna's eyes darted around for something to defend herself with; a wand, a chalice, anything! As Lucius placed his hand on the doorknob, Luna saw it. A wand, sitting right there in plain sight. She looked at Lucius, who was opening the door, and then down at their hands, where Lucius still grasped her firmly. Luna made her decision and quickly darted for the wand. Lucius, who was caught unaware, fumbled for his wand, but it was too late. Luna had grabbed the wand and was already casting a spell to disarm him. Lucius' thorny wand flew out of his hand, and out the door. He stared at Luna for a few frightening seconds, before darting outside, through the door. Following him outside, Luna yelled, "Stupefy!" but missed. The earth next to Lucius exploded beneath his feet, and he was thrown to the ground. He groaned and Luna stood over him, kicking him in the side. She panted heavily, she was out of breath. Luna was weak from days, perhaps even weeks of being starved and tortured. In her weakened state, this took a lot of effort. "Now," She said, pushing further into his side. "tell me what you planned for them,"

"Them? How do you know who's coming?" Lucius teased, resulting in a kick in the head. He groaned again.

"I sent a message to George—"

"George? Oh, I see." Lucius smirked. "Who's this George? Attractive, is he?"

Luna's jaw went tight and she pointed her wand at him. She silently cast a spell, and Lucius moaned, clutching his head.

"It's none of your business," She said through gritted teeth. Luna had never been this aggressive before, but she truly hated this man. And rightfully so.

"Oh-ho!" Lucius said, playfully, but still painfully. "Not George Weasley,"

Luna's foot dug further into his side, warningly.

Lucius gave a gritty moan but continued to mock her. "A Weasley? Surely even you are better than that! I can't believe it!"

Luna flared up and quickly flipped him over, strength generating from somewhere deep within her. She sat on his chest, ramming her wand against his jugular. He made a sound, something between a cry of help and a yelp. Luna pushed further into his throat. "Tell me," she growled, hair tousled, eyes wild. "what have you done to him?"

Lucius gurgled and she released the pressure a little so he could speak. "I haven't done anything to him!" He gasped. Luna stuck out her lower jaw and pushed further into his neck, the skin around it turning white.

"For the past few days, weeks, even, you have starved me. You have twisted my bones. You have burnt my skin. You have slowly destroyed every last bit of hope I've ever had!" Luna screamed the last sentence. She continued to yell, her face inches from his. "You have gone after the one person in this world that I care about! I ask you what you are doing to him, and you say you've done nothing!" Lucius gurgled in protest as she pushed down further into his jugular, a bit of blood seeping from underneath the wand. Luna's screams got louder. "Can you feel no pity? No humanity? It's like watching a little girl play with dolls, except your's are real! You smile, you laugh, you get enjoyment out of it!" By now, Luna was crying. Out of fury, sadness, or utter frustration, she did not know. All she knew is that it overtook her. After days and days of being repeatedly tortured, she felt like she had run dry of tears. Luna was wrong. It was as if she had saved up all her tears for this moment. The wand fell out of her hand, and Lucius gratefully clasped his hands around his bleeding throat. Luna, still sitting on Lucius' chest, held her face in her hands. She wasn't making much noise, she was just silently sobbing. Her shoulders were bobbing up and down, shaking with every sob. Tears escaped through the cracks in her fingers, running all the way from her hands to her elbows, then dripping onto her ripped purple dress.

Lucius crawled out from underneath her, but she didn't respond. She just fell to the ground in a sobbing mess. Lucius, still breathing heavily, picked up both their wands. He faced her, where she was sobbing even harder now. He pointed his wand at her, hand a little unsteady. "Hey," He said, trying to get her attention. She didn't walked over to her and kicked her in the ribs. She looked up and quietly said, tears streaming down her face, "What more do you want from me?"

Lucius stared at her with cold, dead eyes. "I... I haven't finished setting up the traps."

"And? What do you want me for? Do you want me to test them out?" She retorted.

He sent a beam of green to her, causing her to stumble backwards and roll over. She cried some more, and Lucius quietly said. "Don't say that. Stop it."

"You can't tell me to stop! You have put me through absolute hell, nearly killed me, yet you—"

Lucius silenced her with his wand. She made throaty noises in protest. His hair was covering his eyes and he turned away from her. She screamed some more while he tried to gather his thoughts. His throat still ached and her rubbed it a little, as if that would make everything better. Luna squealed again and Lucius whisked around. "SHUT UP, STUPID GIRL!" She was thrown with a great force backwards, all the way in to the trunk of a tree. A crack was heard and Luna cringed in pain, but she still couldn't say anything because she had been silenced. Lucius went back to thinking, and tried to ignore her cries of pain.

Just as Lucius was about to cast another spell on Luna, a loud crack! was heard. Lucius froze, as did Luna. Whispers were heard and Luna's heart skipped a few beats. George. She tried to call out his name, desperately, but it all came out in murmurs. "Did you hear that?" Luna heard someone's voice... She couldn't remember who's it was, as if her brain had gone foggy from all the torture. "Luna?" A voice came. The voice from the ginger haired man in her dreams. The voice of none other than George Weasley.

"Quiet, girl!" Hissed Lucius, clawing at her shoulders. She squealed a little, still silenced. "Luna!" Cried George, trying to place where the sound was coming from. Lucius struck her temple at the side of her head and she fell silent, slumped against a tree. Lucius picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. Just as he was about run away, a group of people barged through the trees. Four people. And for a few, awfully tension filled moments they stared at each other, George looking into the cold, merciless eyes of Lucius Malfoy. He looked different but it was him, nonetheless. Lucius did not run away, his face cracked into a smile. A twisted grin. He cackled drily, as if his throat hadn't been used for years. All it took was one, tiny step backwards. Lucius stepped on a twig, the sound of it breaking underfoot seeming to echo through the darkening sky. One step.

And that, was when all hell broke loose.


End file.
